How Did a Cold Rainy Island Invent Modern Wine?

Perhaps the title of this article should have been the British Paradox?  No other country in the world has had more influence over modern wine than Britain.  For those of you who are scratching your head, let me explain. 

Bordeaux

It all began in the late 12^th century when Britain’s King Henry married France’s Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Eleanor’s family was extremely wealthy and her dowry included the entire Southwest of France, including Bordeaux and all of its vineyards.  Now that this entire area was under British rule, Bordeaux wine was granted preferential tariffs by the British monarchy and an export boom ensued.  For nearly a century, hundreds of ships traveling together in massive fleets filled with wine began the journey north to London.

Many Brits moved to Bordeaux to manage their wine export or shipping business.  Chateaux such as Lynch-Bages, Palmer, and Talbott reflect this British heritage.  But, the 100 year war between France and Britain brought it all to a halt.  The Southwest of France passed back into French hands in 1453.

Port

The British were hooked on red wine and after Bordeaux reverted back to the French the Brits needed to look elsewhere for wines.  The Brits sailed further south and discovered the wines of Northern Portugal.  Getting these wines, however, back to London proved challenging as the wines often arrived spoiled. To stabilize the wine, brandy was added and this fortified wine became known as Port.  Today in Portugal many of these British families still have a firm hold in the wine industry.   Names such as Symington, Grahams, and Taylor reflect Port’s close ties to Britain several hundred years later.

Sherry, Madeira & Marsala

The British were responsible for the invention of the fortified wine industry.  Not only did they birth Port, but also Sherry, Madeira and Marsala.   Fortifying these wines with brandy enabled them to be shipped without spoilage to London.   Britain had an insatiable thirst for fortified wines, especially Sherry.  By the 19^th century it is estimated that Sherry accounted for 60% of wine sales within Britain.

Madeira was very fashionable with the British Royalty who would voyage to the verdantly green “Garden Island” for a holiday of sunshine.  With the nobility came British merchants who set up wineries and shipping companies to bring a little slice of Madeira back to Britain.  The Brits monopolized the Madeira wine industry for generations and still to this day have a strong presence on the island.

The Brits sailed as far south as Sicily looking for their next new wine.  On the west coast they found the town of Marsala.  Having had great success in fortifying Portugal’s and Madeira’s wine for the long, arduous voyage back to London, they did the same with the table wine from Marsala.  Britain created Marsala as we know it today.

Glass Bottles

Our modern wine industry relies on glass bottles to prevent spoilage of the wine due to oxygen exposure.  While the Brits did not invent the glass wine bottle, they were the first to figure out how to mass produce them.  In 1821 a patent was issued to a chap from Bristol for his machine to bottle wine in a glass.  The rest is history.

Today, after centuries of influencing the development of the modern wine industry, Britain is finally producing its own wines.  While wine has been made for decades in England, the worldwide wine stage is now taking notice of English wines, especially the sparkling wines.  These “fizz” wines (as they are called) have out scored several well respected French Champagnes in blind tastings and have been given very high scores by international judges. 

Wine-Knows is heading to England this summer but the group is completely filled.  There are one or two openings, however, on the 2019 trip to the English countryside.

Cheerio!